PHILADELPHIA – The big mystery for the Flyers was how the team would react after its captain used the dreaded “soft” word following Wednesday night’s disaster in Washington.
Well, judging by the way the Flyers dismantled the Utah Mammoth on Sunday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the message apparently got through.
Of course, the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, so maybe we should off on judgment until that game has been decided.
But in the meantime, the Flyers have to be feeling pretty good about how they responded with the 6-3 victory effort on their home ice to end a three-game winless streak.
Couturier himself gave the impression the Flyers reacted the right way after he called them out. No doubt the return of Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett had something to do with the outcome but overall the physical play indicated the Flyers were fully engaged in this one.
“I think we’re just trying to be honest with each other,” Couturier said after the game. “Sometimes some hard things need to be said. At the end of the day, I think we all know in the locker rom how we’re playing. So I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone within our room.
“I thought we responded well. A big win.”
Coach Rick Tocchet mentioned in his postgame media session that he’s let the players handle this particular situation. Sometimes it’s better for the coaches to just stay out of the way and allow the players to sort of police themselves.
The Flyers were officially credited with 30 hits on the scoresheet on Sunday against the Mammoth so that would seem to indicate the players wanted to make some kind of a statement.
“We’ve all been in situations where something is being said, whether it’s in the room or in the media,” Tocchet said. “The best thing is to address it the next day. And sometimes as a coach you have to stay out of it. So I don’t know what happened (internally after Couturier expressed his feelings).”
Tocchet has been through these situations before, so he’s familiar with the problem – and the solution.
“I trust those guys,” he said. “I’m sure they (the players) talked about it. Sometimes it can be a good thing. I just remember winning the Stanley Cup (in Pittsburgh: where halfway through the year there was some stuff, controversy. You have to overcome that stuff. That’s how you do it. So maybe this is a good thing right now. Band together.”
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